Mugabe sets November 26 Senate poll date

Mugabe sets November 26 Senate poll date

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• Rights groups condemn constitutional moves

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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE will elect the new Senate on November 26 in accordance with the Constitutional Amendment Act passed by parliament in August to reintroduce the second chamber, it was announced Saturday.

President Robert Mugabe proclaimed the date for the poll for the 50 constituency senators, five from each province, under the Electoral Act in an Extraordinary Government Gazette on Friday.

The nomination court will sit on October 24 at 10 provincial centers.
The eight provincial assemblies of chiefs will also vote on November 26, each assembly electing one chief.

The other two seatsfor chiefs will be occupied by the president of the Council of Chiefs and his deputy.

The president will appoint the final six senators from special groups.
Mugabe also fixed November 26 as the date for the Gutu North parliamentary by-election. The seat fell vacant following the death of retired chief Air Marshal Josiah Tungamirai in August.

The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) has already set the criteria for prospective candidates interested in representing the ruling party in the Senate elections.

Early this week, Zanu PF national political commissar Elliot Manyika said guidelines on the criteria to select candidates would have been sent to the relevant party structures by this weekend.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which until only recently was undecided about its participation in the Senate elections, has resolved to contest the polls.

But the decision has left the party deeply divided as its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was against participation while other senior officials such as Secretary General Professor Welshman Ncube expressed their strong opinion in favor of taking part.

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